Freight-car



(No Model.) 2 Sheets-Sheet 1. P. A. CUTTING.

FREIGHT CAR.

N0. 453,579x Patented June 2,1891.

2 t e e h S s t e e h S 2 G N I T T UH Um .E m h d 0 M O w No. 453,579. Patented June 2,1891.

WEEBEBB lTE STATES PATENT ()FFICE.

FRANK A. CUTTING, OF IVINCHESTER, MASSACHUSE'FS.

FREIGHT-CAR.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 453,579, dated June 2,1891.

Application filed December 29, 1890. Serial No. 376,147. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, FRANK A. CUTTING, of Winchester, in the county of Middlesex and State of Massachusetts, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Railway Freight-Cars for Transporting Tan-Bark, &c., of which the following, taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, is a specification.

This invention relates to railway freightcars for transporting tan-bark and like commodities, and has for its object to provide a strong, light, safe, and convenient car for this purpose, having a skeletontop or body adapted to be readily applied and secured on an ord inary platform-car and capable of being easily removed therefrom when so desired.

The invention consists in the special construction and combination of devices hereinafter described, and specifically pointed out in the claims.

Figure 1 represents a side elevation of a car embodying my invention. Fig. 2 is a side elevation of the skeleton top orbody removed from the platform of the car. Fig. 3 is an end view thereof. Fig. 4 is a cross-section of the same. Figs. 5 and 6 are enlarged views of portions of the skeleton top or body of the car.

In the drawingssimilar letters of reference indicate corresponding parts wherever they occur thereon.

I will now describe the preferred form of carrying out this invention; but it will of course be subject to minor changes and modi fications within the scope of mechanical skill without departing from the essential principle and spirit of the invention.

Let a represent the longitudinal side sills of the truck-frame or platform having trucks 2) I), provided with axles and wheels in the usual manner.

c is the skeleton top or body of the car, constructed as follows: A series of upright stakes d, the lower ends of which, with the exception of the ones on the corners at the ends of the car, which are bolted direct to the platform thereof, are supported by metal boxes 6, secured on the outside of the frame of the platform of the car (see Fig. 1) and have their upper ends connected to cross bars or frames f, said stakes on the sides of the car being connected to said cross-frames by metal angle-irons g, strongly secured thereto by bolts h, the said angle-irons being preferably attached on the outside of the stakes and the lower or bottom edges of the cross-frames, said frames being strengthened to avoid splitting at their ends by the bolts 2'. Said crossframes are straight on their lower edges, but made tapering toward their centers on their upper edges, so as to be crowning and thus bring the running-boardsj considerably above the sides of the car-body, (see Fig. 6,) the top of said body being open or unprovided with any roofs, excepting:so much as is covered by the said running-boards.

The sides of the car top or body are composed of the aforesaid upright stakes or frames (1, suitably tied together and strengthened by horizontal frames 7c at the top of said stakes and extending from end to end of both sides of the car, said frames being preferably composed of planks of suitable width and thickness, which are let into said stakes a part of their thickness, thus securely bracing each stake, the frames and stakes being held together by the bolts h, the heads of which are let into the wood, so as to present a smooth surface on the inside of the car. Beneath the planks or frames 7.; and running parallel therewith are side boards Z of suflicient thickness to come flush on the inside with said planks or frames 70, which serve to give greater width thereto, as well as adding to their strength, the width being desirable, so as to retain the top of the load of bark when of varying height. The skeleton top or body of the car is further braced to withstand the strain longitudinally by the diagonal side braces or frames m, which are preferably composed of planks set at an angle, the lower ends thereof being at or near the center of the platform of 'the car and their opposite ends elevated, so as to connect with the ends of said car at or near the frames 7., the preferred construction being to cut or rabbet into the inner side of said frames on, so as to overlap the boards Z and come flush with the inner surface thereof, and secure the ends of both at their junction by bolts 12,

passing through the same into the upright frame'or stake (Z on the end corners of the car. The planks or frames m are grooved across on theirouter side opposite each stake (I, so as to let said stakes into the former a suffieient distance to bring the inner surface thereof flush with the frame and boards Z and are firmly bolted together by the bolts n, the heads of which are let into the wood, so as to present a smooth surface on the inside of the car. Those portions of the inner sides of the upright stakes d not covered by the frames 70 mand boards lare filled out flush therewith by wooden strips 0, secured thereto. The ends of the skeleton top or body of the car are sheathed or boarded up flush on the inner side of the stakes d. The crossframes f at the ends of the car are preferably of greater width than the others, and the end stakes d are bolted directly thereto by the bolts 10. The horizontal frames 70 are securely fastened at their ends by the bolts g, which pass through two corner stakes at the end of the car.

The ends of the car are provided with the usual ladder and stand for the use of the brakemen, and are also provided with couplings, buffer, and brake-mechanisms not thought necessary to illustrate in the drawings.

It will be observed that the upright stakes are secured on the outside of the frame of the platform of the'car by metal socket-s or boxes before referred to and by suitable bolts 0, thus securely attaching the skeleton top'or body to the platform of the car without materially decreasing the capacity of said car by lessening the available area of said platform, as would be the case if any of the upright V stakes were set in or mortised intosaid platform. Furthermore, by constructing the skeleton top or body so that all the upright stakes come outside of the platform of the car it is very much more convenient to disconnect said top or body from said platform than would be thecase if otherwise constructed, and also, as a further advantage of this outside connection, the skeleton top or body can be easily applied to any platform-car without making any alterations, excepting, perhaps, relocating the stake-boxes on the car.

In loading the described skeleton car the bark is piled crosswise therein, the outside ends of said bark being kept even by piling it against a loose board placed edgewise against theinside of the car-body, said boards being placed at the sides and extending the length of the car or less and raised bodily as the load of bark increases in height, thus retaining the bark uniformly and making the load square and true at the sides of the car. The inner sides of the car top or body being flush and free from bolt-heads or other projections permit said loose boards to be easily raised until the load extends above the horizontal frames of the car-body, when said boards are dispensed with and the bark piled so that the load will be higher in a central longitudinal line or crowning between the cross-frames said frames being made deeperin the center. so as to elevate the running-boards sufliciently high for this purpose, the object being to make the load of bark shed any water which might fall upon it during transportation.

It is obvious that I may, if so preferred,dispense with the side boards Z and make the horizontal frames 70 enough wider to answer their purpose, and, further, that I may use metal rods in place of the wooden angle-frames m, said rods runningat an angle from end to end of the car. I desire to state in this connection that for some sizes of cars I dispense entirely with the angle-frames m, and by adding more stakes to the ends of the skeleton top or body of the car it is sufficiently strong without said frames.

When desirable to remove the skeleton top or body from the platform of the car, it is only necessary to remove the retaining-bolts 7', when the car top or body may be raised bodily therefrom, and, if desirable, said top may be stored away for future use and the platformcar continued in service as an ordinary flat car. Thus it will be seen that with my invention a strong, light, and serviceable car is produced, which is better adapted. to the transportation of tan-bark than those heretofore in use, as the skeleton top or body insures a perfect circulation of air throughout the load, and also facilitates the loading and unloading of the car, and at the same time said car is in every way adapted for making up in a train of ordinary freight-cars, as it is provided with running-boards and can be braked and otherwise attended to from the top of the car in a manner similar to the ordinaryfreight-pars of the train being in this respect fully as convenient and safe for the train-men to handle as any other car.

Heretofore tan-bark has been transported in box-cars, which are not suitable for this purpose, or on platform-cars having a temporary frame-work of scantling or plank built thereon, making a very rickety and unsafe structure to connect with a train of cars and very dangerous for train-men, and, so far as I am able to ascertain, I am the first to construct a complete and thoroughly-equipped skeleton-top railway-car for transporting tanbark, and first also to construct a skeleton top or body for railway-cars complete in itself with the ordinary adjuncts necessary for its adaptation to a train of cars, and yet capable of being readily applied to or removed from the ordinary platform-car, and these advani tages will be greatly appreciated by those familiar with the art or service to which this invention pertains.

Having thus fully described the nature and construction of 'myinventionflwish tosecure by Letters Patent and claim- I claim-- 1. An open-top freight-car consisting of the longitudinal sills a, having attached metallic boxes 6, the upright stakes d, remova bly arranged in the metallic boxes and having their extremities detachablybolted to the sills, the cross-framesf at the top of the car, the angle-irons g, rigidly connecting the upper ends of the stakes with the cross-frames, the running-boards j, supported by the crossframes, and the longitudinal side frames 7t, connecting the stakes, substantially as described.

2. An open-top freight-car consisting of the longitudinal side sills a, having attached metallic boxes 6, the upright stakes (l, removably arranged in the metallic boxes and having their lower extremities detachablybolted to the side sills, the cross-frames f at the top of the car, the angle-irons g, rigidly connecting the upper ends of. the stakes with the cross-frames, the runningboards j, supported by the cross-frames, the longitudinal side frames 7;, connecting the stakes, and the reversed diagonal braces m, extending from the upper portion of the car ends and bolted to the stakes, substantially as described.

3. A freight-car consistingof a truck-frame having theimmovable side sills provided with attached metallic boxes and a car-body entirely removable from the truck-frame and consisting of the following elements: the upright stakes (Z, removable from the metallic boxes, the cross-frames f, respectively secured to the upper ends of the stakes, the runningboards j, supported by the cross-frames, the horizontal frames 70, rigidly connecting the stakes, and the .reversely-arranged diagonal braces m, bolted to the stakes and extending from the upper portion of the car-body to the side sills of the truck-frame, substantially as described.

4. An open-top freight-car consisting of the side sills a. the upright stakes (Z, thehorizontal frames 7t, and reverse diagonal braces m, rabbeted to the stakes to provide flush inside surfaces, and the longitudinal side boards Z and strips 0, arranged flush with the insides of the frames and braces, whereby the loose side boards used in loading tan-bark can be conveniently raised as the load increases in height, substantially as described.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification, in the presence of two subscribing witnesses, on this 19th day of December, A. D. 1890.

FRANK A. CUTTING.

Witnesses:

CLIFTON O. DEXTER, MARION l. EUsTIs. 

